Lubricating apparatus



Oct. 10, 1933. E, w DAVls 1,929,774

LUBRICATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 10, 1933 w. DAVIS LUBRICATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet, 2

Filed Jan. 10, 1929 w j a M 4 Patented Oct 10, 1933 PATENT OFFICE TUNITEDTSTATES LUBRICATING APPARATUS tion of Delaware Application January 10, 1929. Seria1No.331,405

8 .Claims.

My invention relates to lubricating apparatus f and more particularly to a system of lubrication wherein the principal .elements are electrically controlled grease cups and a remote control sta- 5 tion for the same.

In the lubrication of machines in factories and industrial plants and also in the lubrication of automobiles, the bearingsfrequently are located in relatively inaccessible places, making it difgrease cup, for the operator: of the machine to turn down the grease cups. The task of taking care :of the lubrication is thus frequently neglected. In some machines the bearings are moving or have moving parts in theway so that the operation of turning down the grease cups is either very dangerous or impossible unless the machine is stopped.

To overcome this and the many other difficulties encountered in lubricating inace'ssible and inconveniently placed bearings, one of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved compression grease cup which may be operated to lubricate the bearingsb'y the simple expedient of closing an electric switch placed ,in any convenient place, or may be. automatically controlled by an electric time switch,

A further object is to provide an improved lubricant feeding device in which the rate of feed may be electrically controlled.

o A further object is to provide animprovedreservoir type grease cup having indicating means to disclose the amount of lubricant in the'cup.

A further object is to provide an improved electrically controlled reservoir grease cup having its entire operating mechanism mounted thereon and forming a self-contained and complete unit. A further object is to provide an improved grease cup having .a simple, reliable and durable actuating means that may be economically manufactured.

ficult, when using the ordinary compression in Fig. 3; and

by a spring 46.

Other objects and advantages of my invention willappear more fully from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a central vertical cross sectional view of the reservoir grease cup shown mounted on a bearing; 7 v i Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig.' 3 is an elevation ofthe upper portion of 5 the grease cup, the cover being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the parts shown Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram of an electrical Z9 circuit used to control the operation of several grease cups in series.

The reservoir grease cup 10 is mounted on a bearing 12 by means of a reduced end portion 14 which is screwed into a suitably tapped hole 7 16. A lubricant receiving fitting 18 of any wellknown type is screwed into a tapped hole 20 in the reduced end of the grease cup. The upper end of the grease'cup is closed by a cap 22 and inside the grease cup'is a'piston 24 normally 8 pressed downwardly by a compression spring '26. The piston is provided with a guide '30 which has rack teeth '32, formed at one edge. The upper end of this guide has an indicating scale 31 on itsside to show the position'of the piston. 5

The cup' leather piston 24', together with its packing and face plates, is secured, over a per-- tion 25 of reduced diameter at the lower end-of the guide 30. An inverted cup-shaped limit stop 33 is also secured upon the reduced end por-'-90 tion 25, the piston face plates and stop being secured to the portion 25 by a nut 27. The stop 33 limits downward movement of the piston 24 so as to prevent deformation of the ends of the cup leather thereot against the bottom of the grease cup.

'Rotatably mounted on stud 40 and in mesh 'with the rack is a pinion 34'. The pinion 34 is connected to a ratchet-wheel 36 by pins 38. R0-

tatably mounted on the same stud is an escapement'wheel 42 which carries a pawl 44 normally held in engagement withgthe'ratchet-wheel 36 An escapement 'wheel anchor 48 is non-rotatably mounted on a shaft 50 which is journaled in standards 52.

An actuating arm 54 is non-rotatably mounted at the end of shaft 50 (Figs. 3 and 4). Positioned on the top 22 is an upright lug 56, on which a vibratinglever 58 having ,a depending ear 61 dication on the scale 31.

This lever is normally held in the position shown by compression spring 60. Rigidly secured to the vibrating lever is a stop 62 having a vertical face 64 and an inclined face 66, for engagement with a cam face 68 at the end of actuating arm 54.

An electromagnet '70 is secured on thetop 22 by means of screws '72. The electromagnet has a core 74, a winding '76, and two lead-in wires '78 and 80. A protective cover 82 is provided for the entire top of the reservoir grease cup, being:

attached to the top 22 by screws 84. The cover has an open end slot 86 for the electromagnet lead-in wires 78 and 80.

Figure 5 shows an optional method ofv con.- necting a plurality of the electromagnetically controlled grease cups previously described. In this diagram a source of" electric current, represented by a battery 90, is connected in series with a plurality of the electromagnets '70 of the various' grease-cups. A switch 88,- which-may be 'manually operated or may be controlled by a suitable clock mechanism or by a moving part of the machine upon which the grease cups are attached, is adapted to complete the electric circuit through the electromagnets at any desired frequency.

While three grease cups are shown in this diagram, it will be understood that practically any number may thus be connected in series.

' Inthe event that a large number are to be controlled by a single switch, the electromagnets are preferably connected in parallel.

The operation of the above-described grease cup is as follows: a

The greasecup reservoir 10 is filled with lubricant by the usual lubricant compressor which is coupled to the fitting '18. While asmall amount of lubricant may be forced directly to the bearing, the size of the dischargeopening,

"the resistance of the bearing, and the usual high rate at which lubricant is'fed into the cup; prevent an excessive amount of grease from thus being fed directly to the bearing. The entering grease'raises the piston 24 and compresses the spring 26, 'The rack 30 rotates the pinion 34 and ratchet-wheel 36 clockwise until the reservoir is filled, the pawl 44 permitting clockwise rotationfof the ratchet-wheel without actuating the escapement-wheel 42; The escapementwheel is of course held against movement by .the anchor 48. The operator may, ascertain thatthe'grease cup is full by observing the in- Upon completion of the filling operation the piston-24 is held against downward movement by the escapement-wheel anchor 48 which is coupled to the pinion 34 and ion 34, ratchet-wheel 36 and pawl44;

The switch 88 is ordinarily closed only momentarily so that prior to the time that the actuating. arm 54 has completed a fulloscillation the switch will have been opened and the vibrating lever 58 swung away from the electromagnet by thespring 60' and the stop will then be in position to arrest further oscillation of the actuat center of both its rightward and leftward oscillatory strokesandthe grease cup thus made to feed lubricant-to th'e'be'aring at only half the usual speed. 7

It will of course be understood that the grease cup will continue to feed the lubricant to the bearing as long as the switch 88 remains closed. The operator may readily ascertain when the grease cups need to be filled" by observing-the extent of protrusion ofthe guides--30 'above-the tops of'thecovers-82; j r It' will thus-'beseen" that I"have* provided a compression grease cup which maybe easily filled without disconnecting any of the discharge controlling means and "a' plurality "of whichfmay be controlled by a singleremotely-locatedelectric switch to feed lubricant to their respective"bearings at any desired rate.

The invention is capable of wide variation within equivalent limits "and I contenrp'late'such variation as may be desirableor useful in the particularadaptation or theinvention'shown, or

1. In areservoirgrease' cup; a grease reservoir, r

a piston, a spring acting'directlyuponsaidpiston for expelling grease under pressure," and" remotely controlled escapement means for'controlling the movement ofthe piston step by step;

2; In a reservoir grease cup, a"cliamber,a'piston therein forexpellinggrease therefrom, a spring acting directly upon said piston, escapement means to control the" operation" of said piston. I

3. In a reservoir grease cup,,.a"grease 'res ervoir,.,

a spring pressed plunger: therein iorxe'x'pelling grease under. pressure. therefrom, and means" for releasing the" compression" ofsaid spring'by remotely' controlled electromagnetically operated means, said releasing means comprising an: e'schamber, means for fillingsaid chamber, a spring pressed plunger, said springlpressed plunger being, adapted to be compressed by the ifilling'; of said chamber, means to holdisaid sprir'ig. compressed, and optionally operable escapement means to release-said spring, to expel. aprede terminedlamount ofilubricantlv 51 In adevice ofthe class described, the oombination of a lubricant reservoir, means-to attach said reservoir to a bearing to be lubricated, a

piston in saidreservoir, a springforinovingisaid. 4 piston to discharge lubricant 'Iromsaidres'ervoir,

means for filling said: reservoir whereby upon supplying, lubricant'to said reservoir'saidmiston will be moved against" the force ofsaid. spring, an escapement mechanism for "controllingfftlie 0 discharging movement of said piston, andelectromagnetically operated means for controlling said escapement mechanism.

6. A lubricant feeding device comprising a reservoir having a resilient wall, means for supplying lubricant to said reservoir, said resilient wall being. moved outwardly to increase the capacity of said reservoir upon supplying lubricant under pressure thereto, an escapement mechanism for controlling inward, movement of said resilient wall, and means for controlling the operation of said escapement mechanism.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a cylindrical reservoir, a piston therein, a spring for forcing said piston downwardly to discharge lubricant from said reservoir, a rack carried by said piston, an escapement mechanism for controlling inward movement of said resilient wall, means for controlling the operation of said escapement mechanism, and visual means for indicating the quantity of lubricant in said reservoir.

ERNEST W. DAVIS. 

